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(HockeyStL) -- The Blues were back to full strength Wednesday as Alex Steen, Andy McDonald and Kris Russell returned to practice.

Steen and Russell were no-shows on the ice Tuesday and received an extra day off, Hitchcock said Tuesday. McDonald skated early but left a short time after the practice got underway.

The full practice lineup meant there were extra players on the ice. Matt D'Agostini skated as an extra to the McDonald-Steen-Tarasenko line. Vladimir Sobotka left the fourth line to play alongside Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart at practice Wednesday.

David Backes left the ice before returning a short time later. He was able to skate off the ice on his own after appearing to run into Ryan Reaves during a drill.

The team will play its first game since Sunday tomorrow night in Columbus. Brian Elliott will start and Jaroslav Halak is expected to play Friday in Detroit, Hitchcock said after practice.